The previously announced Final Fantasy Versus XIII has after 7 years finally been… re-announced… As Final Fantasy XV… With a borderline nonsensical trailer… And it only took them an entire console generation!

Square Enix has come under a lot of flak for the way they’ve handled the Final Fantasy franchise over the last decade, and while nary a shred of good will remains in for this storied company, we can only hope that they get it right this time. Judging from the trailer it undoubtedly looks stunning, fast paced and grand in scale, but so did FFXIII without really managing to live up to either the combat of previous FFs or provide any meaningful developments. Final Fantasy Versus 13 was originally supposed to be the more action oriented evolution of FF style gameplay, but since its announcement, any concrete information on how this was supposed to work has not only been very vague but is also now rendered irrelevant until we see proof that this game actually exists.

Here’s to making them work to get us back on to the Final Fantasy ferry.

*UPDATE*

A gameplay trailer has surfaced for Final Fantasy XV! Ironically, after the platform announcement and name change meant to assure us that this is still a very real thing, they seem unable to commit to any of the material they are showing to convince us it’s real.

It’s definitively very action heavy, with you taking control of a character who appears to be some sort of spectral blade master. Attacks and abilities seem to change depending on which blades you are either equipping on the fly, or the attacks are simply illustrated by different weapons. You have some teleporting abilities that allow you to climb buildings and avoid attacks, but I worry about the apparent lack of precision in the gameplay. It’s hard to tell what is just mashing buttons and what is deliberate actions. The other two characters seem to show up as support to help you do contextual attacks or help get you out of binds. There was a short clip where it looked like you’ll be able to control the gun wielding guy for some sections as well.

I’ll also be curious to see how they end up using the wall cover mechanic in the final game, as we’ve seen it used in a handful of scenarios across the two trailers.